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New York "puts on the Ritz" for Olympic delegates
Michael Bloomberg, New York mayor, has one week to persuade delegates to choose New York to host the 2012 Summer Olympics.
By LARRY McSHANE
The Associated Press
New York, Feb. 23 -- They've been wined and dined by the King of Spain and the Queen of England. They've nibbled on lobster in Madrid and been serenaded by bagpipers in London.
The proposed site for a new stadium if New York is chosen for the host of the 2012 Olympics. (AP photo)
This week, it's New York City's turn to be charming.
The 13 delegates who will help select a host city for the 2012 Summer Olympics have arrived in New York fresh off trips to Spain and Britain. Next month Paris and Moscow roll out their red carpets.
"Who's got Olympic fever?" Mayor Michael Bloomberg asked a crowd at a pep rally. "Who thinks it's time to bring the world's greatest sporting event to the world's greatest city?"
The mayor and U.S. Olympic Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth, met with the delegates Monday at the posh Plaza Hotel overlooking picturesque Central Park and its recent art installation, "The Gates."
The International Olympic Committee members were scheduled Tuesday to visit a variety of proposed venues for the Games. They will not speak publicly about New York's bid until their visit is completed Thursday.
On Wednesday, the city hosts a gymnastics demonstration at Trump Tower, where "The Apprentice" is videotaped. That night, the delegation will be entertained at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Dinner and drinks are at the mayor's Upper East Side town house.
A fencing exhibition on the steps of the New York Public Library is a Thursday highlight. The city is already swathed in Olympic logos and signs promoting its bid. Billboards, bus shelters and street poles are decorated, along with the city's 4,000 subway cars, 7,000 buses and 13,000 medallion taxi cabs.
Visits are planned to all the Olympic venues, although the biggest one - the proposed West Side stadium - remains nothing more than an architect's vision.
Bloomberg is pushing to build the 75,000-seat stadium for the New York Jets over a desolate train yard on Manhattan's West Side. But it has touched off a furious debate over jobs, parking, traffic and the propriety of spending taxpayer dollars on a sports arena.
On Monday, meetings between the IOC Evaluation Committee and New
York officials continued all day, and each committee member received a thick "2012" binder about the New York bid.
Bloomberg left the sessions to help host a pro-Olympics pep rally on the Rockefeller Center skating rink. The NYC2012 logo was painted in the middle of the ice, and attendees were given signs and flags to wave.
The Olympic evaluation committee will prepare reports on all five cities, which will then be turned over to the IOC for a final selection expected on July 6.
Story Produced by: Medha Raval
